I currently am reading Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward. Lutz is the author of the hysterically dysfunctional Spellman family series. Hayward is a poet and winner of the Pushcart Prize. Lutz wrote the first chapter, then emailed Hayward, with whom she had a previous personal involvement, and suggested they collaborate on the rest of the novel. Lutz would write the odd-numbered chapters, and Hayward would write the even-numbered chapters. They would not outline or discuss what they were working on. Each would read "blind" the chapter of the other. Neither author was allowed to undue a plot development established by the other.

Within each chapter are footnotes of comments made by the reading author to the text of the writing author. The authors also exchanged brief messages when a chapter was completed. These comments appear at the end of each chapter.

The result of this arrangement is that often the narrative of the novel is secondary to, and less interesting than, the biting comments and messages the authors make to each other. The novel is interesting. The interchange is more interesting.

gkaplan wrote:I currently am reading Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward. Lutz is the author of the hysterically dysfunctional Spellman family series. Hayward is a poet and winner of the Pushcart Prize. Lutz wrote the first chapter, then emailed Hayward, with whom she had a previous personal involvement, and suggested they collaborate on the rest of the novel. Lutz would write the odd-numbered chapters, and Hayward would write the even-numbered chapters. They would not outline or discuss what they were working on. Each would read "blind" the chapter of the other. Neither author was allowed to undue a plot development established by the other.

Within each chapter are footnotes of comments made by the reading author to the text of the writing author. The authors also exchanged brief messages when a chapter was completed. These comments appear at the end of each chapter.

The result of this arrangement is that often the narrative of the novel is secondary to, and less interesting than, the biting comments and messages the authors make to each other. The novel is interesting. The interchange is more interesting.

I'll make a note to read this apparently novel approach to a novel, but I can see where the interchange could be of greater interest. Let us know what you think after you finish it. Thanks.

"The Lonely Silver Rain" by John D. MacDonald, the 21st and last Travis McGee novel. I have read the previous 20.

"The Great Agnostic - Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought" by Susan Jacoby.

Just starting on both.

I recently finished "How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe" by Charles Yu. It has an interesting premise, the protagonist lives in a "time capsule" and gets other time travelers out of jams for a living. And then of course gets himself into a jam. The story never really grabbed me so not much of a recommendation.

I also recently read "Mortality" by Christopher Hitchens. This is an interesting look at dying from a personal perspective. I liked it.

JB

Remember, I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together. -- Red Green

I'm about halfway through Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World, a good but somewhat dry book about the peace negotiations following World War I. It is arranged by topic, e.g. separate chapters on Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and all the other new and existing nations that were directly involved or affected by border changes and other treaty outcomes. This is a bit confusing at first because the various chapters necessarily allude to events not yet discussed, but trying to lay it out in a chronological narrative would probably be much harder to follow as so much was happening simultaneously. The book is tightly focused, only sparingly discussing events before or after 1919, and only when doing so sheds light on the importance of the decisions being made. It's a good book to read after a WWI history such as A World Undone, which was rather perfunctory regarding the aftermath of the war.

As usual, more maps would have been welcome. The ones that were included are OK (but not great - sometimes even contradicting the text) for showing borders before and after the Great War, but it would have been nice to see how they compare with today's borders.

Also reading The Grapes of Wrath for the second time - I previously read it in 1992 and had forgotten most of it. It's good so far, although a bit preachier than I remembered. I won't say much about the perspective it lends to our recent economic malaise, except that "Great Recession" and other allusions to the 1930s ring pretty hollow when you read about the real thing.

My bedtime reading has been rereading The Lyttelton Hart-Davis Letters.

Now that I'm older, I appreciate an entirely different slant in these letters, and I just love George (Lyttelton). When I was younger, I was wow'd by Hart-Davis's lifestyle, but now it is George I adore. Wikipedia has an entry on the book, and the "Selected Letters" are a good intro (and have footnotes more geared to people less than 70 years old and towards Americans).

LocalHero wrote:"The Lonely Silver Rain" by John D. MacDonald, the 21st and last Travis McGee novel. I have read the previous 20.

Well done you! I have heard they are not of even quality, but he really was Chandler's inheritor.

I recently finished "How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe" by Charles Yu. It has an interesting premise, the protagonist lives in a "time capsule" and gets other time travelers out of jams for a living. And then of course gets himself into a jam. The story never really grabbed me so not much of a recommendation.

OK there is a hilarious Marvin Gardener 'The Incredible Umbrella'. Out of print. Character keeps falling into Victorian novels, and he meets 'Dr. W and Mr. H' in, of all things, Flatland...

My favourite time travel novel of all time is 'Lest Darkness Fall' by L Sprague de Camp (American archaeologist winds up trying to save 5th century Rome from barbarian invasion). And there is Poul Anderson's 'Time Patrol'. And Fritz Leiber's 'The Big Time' about a war between 2 forces trying to change time.

I just finished Kinsey and Me. This a compilation of short stories by Sue Grafton. The stories in the first half of the volume, some of which have been published in crime novel anthologies or in periodicals, feature the Kinsey Milhone character of her alphabet mysteries. The second half stories are not mysteries at all. The central character is Kit Blue as Sue Grafton, and the stories mirror the life Grafton experienced growing up with alcoholic parents.

I just started The Innocent, the second novel in a series by Taylor Stevens that features Vanessa Michael Munroe.

gkaplan wrote:I just finished Kinsey and Me. This a compilation of short stories by Sue Grafton. The stories in the first half of the volume, some of which have been published in crime novel anthologies or in periodicals, feature the Kinsey Milhone character of her alphabet mysteries. The second half stories are not mysteries at all. The central character is Kit Blue as Sue Grafton, and the stories mirror the life Grafton experienced growing up with alcoholic parents.

It's on my To Read list, but if you wouldn't mind... does she ever reveal whether she actually lives in a tiny but meticulously-designed, efficient, well-organized, nautically-themed apartment?

gkaplan wrote:I just finished Kinsey and Me. This a compilation of short stories by Sue Grafton. The stories in the first half of the volume, some of which have been published in crime novel anthologies or in periodicals, feature the Kinsey Milhone character of her alphabet mysteries. The second half stories are not mysteries at all. The central character is Kit Blue as Sue Grafton, and the stories mirror the life Grafton experienced growing up with alcoholic parents.

It's on my To Read list, but if you wouldn't mind... does she ever reveal whether she actually lives in a tiny but meticulously-designed, efficient, well-organized, nautically-themed apartment?

The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail — but Some Don't - Nate Silver

Very similar books. I was very disappointed in the second book. Not sure Nate has the education or the background to present a book of statistical methods. His analysis of what we "bogleheads" do was half right...but he did not see all the financial pundits as just noise.

As a clarification, I am a big fan of Nate...but some of the air was let out of the balloon with his book. (not a political statement).

Late Bloomer Millionaires: A Financial Story and Investment Guide for Late Starters - Dan Robertson, Steve Schullo

Completed this book while on vacation. Enjoyed the book ...was difficult to read through all the investment mistakes which were made along the way... I can certainly identify with them... I made many of the same mistakes.

I suggest this as a must-read for young investors trying to avoid all the mistakes which many of us made.

nisiprius wrote:
All of that organization, that system, and that machinery. Now go back to the envelope and the sheet of paper. Is he saying that in 1912, Sears Roebuck & Co. had not yet invented the order blank?

The 1912 Sears, Roebuck Catalogue can be found at http://archive.org/stream/catalogno1240 ... 7/mode/2up . Instructions for ordering are at the bottom of the first page, and are worth reading. Note that it mentions an order blank; you can see it if you move the slider (at bottom left of window) all the way to the left, which will give you the cover, then click on the arrow at bottom right and the "page" will flip to show you the order blank.

I'm guessing that the order blank got used for the first order; subsequent orders required letters. I'm also guessing that often more than one person ordered from the same catalogue.
Minot

Just finished Rabbit Redux by John Updike. I liked it better than Rabbit Run. I am hoping to work through the rest of the tetralogy this year.

I am now reading The Missing Risk Premium by Falkenstein. It is interesting to read an attack on standard finance theory by someone who is trained in modern finance. I doubt he'll convince me, but I think some of the stuff on Falkenstein's blog is thought provoking.

"Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful." - George E. P Box

camontgo wrote:Just finished Rabbit Redux by John Updike. I liked it better than Rabbit Run. I am hoping to work through the rest of the tetralogy this year.

I read all four Rabbit books a few years ago. The first two were OK and it's important to have read them in order to fully appreciate the last two, but I thought Rabbit Is Rich and Rabbit at Rest were much better books; while reading them, I could finally understand why Updike's writing is so highly regarded. There's also a novella, Rabbit Remembered, which was written in 2001 but I haven't tracked down yet.

The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965, William Manchester's Vol. 3 of his "The Last Lion" work on the life and times of English Prime Minister Winston Churchill, largely completed by Paul Reid after Manchester's death. You'll be fighting the war from the perspective of the English people and from the personal perspective of Churchill. It's an outstanding read, filling in much interesting detail around the bits and pieces of WWII that I already knew of. Little, Brown and Company, 2012. 1053 pages. $40 cover price, but you can get it for less.

Austintatious wrote:The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965, William Manchester's Vol. 3 of his "The Last Lion" work on the life and times of English Prime Minister Winston Churchill, largely completed by Paul Reid after Manchester's death. You'll be fighting the war from the perspective of the English people and from the personal perspective of Churchill. It's an outstanding read, filling in much interesting detail around the bits and pieces of WWII that I already knew of. Little, Brown and Company, 2012. 1053 pages. $40 cover price, but you can get it for less.

Have you read the first two volumes? I ordered the boxed set a few months ago and am looking forward to reading all three... someday.

A.S. Byatt, The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye. I listened to it as an audiobook, hope it counts . It's an enchanting fairy tale for adults, it's like nothing else I've read. I started it, because someone I know has recently quoted from another Byatt's book I liked, Possession. Now, I am compelled to read all her other books.

Victoria

WINNER of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. |
Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)

Austintatious wrote:The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965, William Manchester's Vol. 3 of his "The Last Lion" work on the life and times of English Prime Minister Winston Churchill, largely completed by Paul Reid after Manchester's death. You'll be fighting the war from the perspective of the English people and from the personal perspective of Churchill. It's an outstanding read, filling in much interesting detail around the bits and pieces of WWII that I already knew of. Little, Brown and Company, 2012. 1053 pages. $40 cover price, but you can get it for less.

Have you read the first two volumes? I ordered the boxed set a few months ago and am looking forward to reading all three... someday.

I'm certain that you made the right choice in ordering the set. No, I've not read the first two volumes and I'm regretting it. If the first two are anywhere near as long as the last volume, it will be a serious undertaking, but well worthwhile, I'm sure.

All fine reads IMO, the Applebaum book provided great insight into Eastern Europe's post-war submission to the USSR.

Though I'm generally a non-fiction reader, I'll occasionally try a novel. I came across Alan Furst a few years ago. If you don't know his work, he's done a series of novels dealing with the years just prior to and during WWII. You mention Eastern Europe, the setting for most of his novels, along with France (Paris is his favorite city.). I found them to be generally historically correct, and fun reads. Lots of intrigue, suspense, spies and bad guys ( the Nazis, primarily) stories. He's a good writer.

camontgo wrote:Just finished Rabbit Redux by John Updike. I liked it better than Rabbit Run. I am hoping to work through the rest of the tetralogy this year.

I am now reading The Missing Risk Premium by Falkenstein. It is interesting to read an attack on standard finance theory by someone who is trained in modern finance. I doubt he'll convince me, but I think some of the stuff on Falkenstein's blog is thought provoking.

Always loved John Updike's novel. If you like him you will like Philip Roth as well. Great American novelists they are.

"Earn All You Can; Give All You Can; Save All You Can." .... John Wesley

Just finished To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War by Jeff Shaara.

3/4 of the way through Spacehounds of IPC, by E. E. "Doc" Smith. Going crazy trying to figure out how much of his characters' talk is legitimate recording of period slang that didn't make it into serious mainstream literature, and how much of it is just him. The character Stevens' girlfriend says to him "I am yours for life and for eternity." Stevens replies:

"You're right, sweetheart—everything will check out on zero, to nineteen decimals. I've been fighting windmills and I've been scared sick—but how was I to think that a wonder-girl like you could ever love a mutt like me? You certainly are the gamest little partner a man ever had You're the world's straightest shooter, ace—you're a square brick if there ever was one.

Halfway through The Grim Smile of the Five Towns, by Arnold Bennett. Definitely has its moments but maybe just a little bit too precious and whimsical.

nisiprius wrote:Just finished To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War by Jeff Shaara.

How did you like it? I enjoyed his Killer Angels novel about Gettysburg, and I have been on a WWI kick lately, so To the Last Man is on my radar screen.

I liked it. I learned some history. If you're interested in WWI and already know you like Shaara, I'd definitely read it, though if you're a WWI buff you may already know the history. BTW The Killer Angels isn't by Jeff Shaara; it's by his father, Michael Shaara.

I thought it had a little bit of a problem with being disjointed. The first half of the book is dwells heavily on aviators Raoul Lufbery and Manfred von Richthofen, to the point where it is almost "about" them, and then they both get killed, leaving you with a second half of the book that doesn't have too many connections to the first half.

I wish he'd do more in the way of citing sources; in one place he has a superior officer (whom he names, but whose name I've already forgotten) ordering Richthofen to paint his plane red, the whole plane (not just the nose like Boelcke). I've since Googled for this story but haven't found it).

He does have a premise, which is that the English and French have downplayed the American role, and that they would not have won the war without the United States.

I was reading it on a Kindle (Fire) and it drives me bananas that publishers haven't figured out how to put high-res images in their books, and none of the maps were very readable.

nisiprius wrote:I liked it. I learned some history. If you're interested in WWI and already know you like Shaara, I'd definitely read it, though if you're a WWI buff you may already know the history. BTW The Killer Angels isn't by Jeff Shaara; it's by his father, Michael Shaara.

Thanks for the info. I keep forgetting that there were two Shaaras, probably because I've only read the one book by either of them.

Regarding his premise about the American role, I haven't yet read widely enough to have an informed opinion on that. My impression is that all of the major powers were nearly exhausted by early 1918 when the Americans started showing up in large numbers, so they may well have decided the outcome, or at least the timing of the outcome. Had they entered the war earlier, they might have played a less noticeable role simply because their numbers were far smaller than those of the Europeans.

I have a Kindle from a few years ago, but have largely given up on it for various reasons, poor image quality certainly being one of them.

nisiprius wrote:I liked it. I learned some history. If you're interested in WWI and already know you like Shaara, I'd definitely read it, though if you're a WWI buff you may already know the history. BTW The Killer Angels isn't by Jeff Shaara; it's by his father, Michael Shaara.

Thanks for the info. I keep forgetting that there were two Shaaras, probably because I've only read the one book by either of them.

If you liked The Killer Angels I think you will like Jeff Shaara's books. I think The Killer Angels was a touch more literary, story-telling, novelistic and Jeff's are a touch more factual and journalistic.

"The Grey Seas Under", by Farley Mowat. Great factual story about the operations of a North Atlantic rescue/salvage tug during the 1930's-40's. Hard to imagine what the crewmen endured, working in conditions from gales to hurricanes.

Austintatious wrote:The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965, William Manchester's Vol. 3 of his "The Last Lion" work on the life and times of English Prime Minister Winston Churchill, largely completed by Paul Reid after Manchester's death. You'll be fighting the war from the perspective of the English people and from the personal perspective of Churchill.

I just finished The Grand Alliance, the 3rd book in WC's series on WWII (I picked up a 1953 copy for pennies). Very interesting. I loved reading all his correspondence. A stroll through Amazon has bagged me most of the others for cheap.

Of all the famous people in history, I'd like to have lunch with WC. I'd promise not to ask a thing, just listen.

Austintatious wrote:The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965, William Manchester's Vol. 3 of his "The Last Lion" work on the life and times of English Prime Minister Winston Churchill, largely completed by Paul Reid after Manchester's death. You'll be fighting the war from the perspective of the English people and from the personal perspective of Churchill.

I just finished The Grand Alliance, the 3rd book in WC's series on WWII (I picked up a 1953 copy for pennies). Very interesting. I loved reading all his correspondence. A stroll through Amazon has bagged me most of the others for cheap.

Of all the famous people in history, I'd like to have lunch with WC. I'd promise not to ask a thing, just listen.

Certainly, you'd be hard pressed to find a more interesting luncheon companion, though I suspect that you'd be breaking that promise to not ask a thing - too many questions to ask of that man.

tacster wrote:"The Grey Seas Under", by Farley Mowat. Great factual story about the operations of a North Atlantic rescue/salvage tug during the 1930's-40's. Hard to imagine what the crewmen endured, working in conditions from gales to hurricanes.

Do pick up The Serpent's Coil. Just as good. I think I stayed up all night reading it. Who needs movies when you have such great writing?